84 
POPULAU HISTORY OE BIEDS. 
other feathers of the tail, while in the M, superha they are the 
longest. There are other difiPerences which need not be here 
dwelt on. It was first, perhaps, observed to be new, when 
seen on the Eichmond River by Dr. Stephenson in 1849. The 
sawyers and others employed there regarded it as a distinct 
species, and told him it was not so timid as the old Menura, 
and that it frequented mountain-ranges not very densely 
covered with brush. It passes most of its time on the earth, 
feeding there, and scratching holes in the sandy ground with 
its large feet. Each bird has three or four of these holes, 
or coTTohoTing places ;^ they are two and a half feet in dia- 
meter, sixteen to twenty inches deep, and three or four hun- 
dred yards apart. In these holes it seems to feed, and may 
be seen by the lucky observer strutting round and round 
the place, while his ear will be pleased with ^^its powerful 
musical voice,^^ imitating any bird it may chance to hear, 
such as the giant kingfisher {Bacelo), Like the mocking 
bird, it need not imitate, for it has an ^^exceedingly beau- 
tiful and varied^^ whistle of its own. Like most great 
musicians, it has an ear even for discord, and practises — as 
birds certainly do, — the mavis, for example, — as we well 
recollect years ago. Dr. Stephenson found insects only in 
the stomachs of those he dissected. 
